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in the era of mobile intelligence, everything from mobile phones to watches and even glasses are given the label of intelligence. what’s interesting is that when mobile phones are established as the first terminal, there are always new terminal devices that want to challenge the position of mobile phones. for example, glasses, with the blessing of ai, although there is no mature market-oriented product yet, they have already clamored to become the first terminal in the ai ​​era.

before glasses, the emergence of smart watches also promoted the slogan of replacing mobile phones. in addition to being as functional as mobile phones, some manufacturers have previously developed screen-projecting smart watches to solve the problem of too small screens.

in the 1980s, the first generation of smart watches was born, and it was not until the second decade of this century that it ushered in rapid development. over the past decade or so, smart watches have made qualitative leaps in terms of functionality, materials, and battery life. from small screens to large screens, from charging once a day to battery life for more than a week, from exercise recording to blood oxygen, blood pressure and sleep monitoring, many brands have also established their own ecosystems.

the upper limit of a terminal depends on the market leader. as the absolute number one in the smartwatch industry, apple provides novel experiences in design, interaction, health monitoring and other aspects. however, judging by the current performance of apple watch, smart watches are not only far from replacing mobile phones, but they have not yet gotten rid of the label of mobile phone accessories. the title of "beautiful little waste" has not been removed for the time being.

however, this does not mean that smart watches are a failed product. the annual sales of nearly 200 million units are enough to prove that consumers have this demand. in addition to apple, domestic manufacturers such as huawei, xiaomi, oppo, and vivo are also accelerating their layout and investment in smart watches. with the expansion of demand in emerging markets such as india, the capacity of the industry is still on an upward path.

“nowadays, smart watches still need to find their own positioning and target groups,” a developer of a smart watch brand told tmtpost media app. “people’s attention to sports and health is the key driving force to promote smart watch sales. now manufacturers have to do the key is to focus on providing more accurate health monitoring data, rather than focusing on ‘copying’ mobile phones.”

apple watch 10 years on, the epitome of smart watches

in 2014, the release of apple watch opened up the expansion of apple's new categories and also made more people aware of smart watches. one thing i have to admit is that apple will always be the best salesman. even in an industry that was previously tepid, as long as apple releases relevant products, it will inevitably become the industry benchmark.

according to techinsights’ global smartwatch average selling price (asp) and revenue forecast report, the first apple watch accounted for a staggering 65.4% share of global smartwatch shipments, although the total shipments that year were only 20.8 million units. . this early success established apple as the market leader, a position it maintained for the next decade.

in the past ten years, every iteration of apple watch has brought updates in the design process. perhaps the difference is difficult to distinguish with the naked eye, but behind it is apple's latest attempt. an apple fan told us that apple usually tests the next-generation process on the apple watch before bringing it to the iphone.

the release of apple watch ultra in 2022 will not only bring smart watches to the price range of mid-to-high-end mobile phones, but the titanium alloy body and richer components will also make apple watch more professional and further meet the needs of outdoor and extreme sports people. .

this year is the 10th year of the apple watch. i thought apple would make some big move, but in the end it was just a regular update as expected. the starting price is 2,999 yuan. the name does not use "x" like the iphone. refer to. simply put, larger, lighter and thinner are the core upgrade points of apple watch series 10. on the new product promotion page on the official website, apple also uses "thin and explosive watch" to describe apple watch series 10.

functionally, the newly designed speaker allows apple watch series 10 to play music and podcasts. to further enhance users’ health experience, apple watch series 10 can remind users of sleep apnea. but according to the official introduction, the battery life of apple watch s10 is only about 18 hours. for brands such as huawei and xiaomi, this is really hard to explain.

as for apple watch ultra, there is no new version update. it only launches a black version and a titanium milanese loop strap. the starting price is 6,499 yuan, which ranks first in the entire industry.

from the original smart watch with simple functions to the current product with rich applications and sports and health monitoring, the continuous improvement of apple watch is also a microcosm of the progress of the entire smart watch industry. nowadays, more and more people are accustomed to wearing smart watches when exercising and not taking off their watches when sleeping. they can also be used as car keys to cater to the needs of the new energy era.

in addition, even in some high-end business occasions, smart watches can also be worn as a social product and decoration. however, it may currently be limited to apple and huawei, which have such decorative attributes.

the market is no longer about apple and others

based on its advantages in the high-end market, apple has an absolute upper hand in many fields such as mobile phones and tablets. it may not be the number one, but it must be the most profitable, and smart watches are no exception.

unlike mobile phones and pcs, which have been developed for a long time and have many participating companies, the market differentiation of products such as tablets and smart watches is still relatively serious. among them, in the tablet market, there has always been a joke: tablets are only divided into ipad and others. the reason why i say this is that apple has widened the gap with android tablets, and the experience is completely different.

in the early years, smart watches had a similar situation. on the one hand, after the launch of apple watch, many imitation brands appeared on the market, and more and more square dials appeared, trying to be as close to apple in appearance as possible. on the other hand, due to the large difference in experience, apple watch is more playable, while the functions of most watches are more about telling the time, receiving mobile phone notifications, and recording exercise.

ten years later, apple is still the absolute leader in the smartwatch market, but in terms of experience, more brands have stepped up, especially domestic brands. according to data released by canalys, in the second quarter of this year, huawei and xiaomi ranked second and third respectively in global wearable wristband shipments, with year-on-year growth reaching 40% and 23% respectively. in contrast, apple fell 5%.

data source: canalys

one thing that needs to be pointed out is that in addition to smart watches, the statistics here also include basic watches and basic bracelets. among them, everyone understands that the basic bracelet is a bracelet product with simplified functions and a cheaper price. basic watches refer to watches that cannot install apps. however, when manufacturers promote it, they always talk about it in terms of smart watches.

judging from the breakdown of shipment data, the growth of huawei and xiaomi relies more on bracelets and basic watch products, both of which rank in the top two. in terms of smartwatch (app-installable) shipments, apple accounts for almost half of the market, with samsung, garmin, huawei and google ranking second to fifth.

data source: canalys

cynthia chen, research manager at canalys, said: "last year's strong growth in basic watches came mainly from the domestic market in india, while the latest growth trend is mainly driven by huawei and xiaomi, which accounted for 15% and 15% of global basic watch shipments respectively. 13%. with their effective pricing strategies and strategies of delegating advanced fitness tracking functions to affordable models of basic watches, these two manufacturers have performed well in greater china in recent quarters. leading basic watch manufacturers have given priority to their products. volume, but it still needs to pay more attention to brand recognition and market positioning to realize its ambition to enter the high-end market.”

from the perspective of growth momentum, huawei's rise is relatively strong, and it can compete with apple even in the high-end market. although garmin is less intelligent, it still has its own ideas and innovations. after apple announced that it would abandon the micro led watch project, garmin is expected to enter the game. there are reports that au optronics is preparing to supply wearable micro led panels to smart watch companies, and garmin is one of the first customers.

for the consumer market, they are more willing to see new experiences and attempts. many brands, especially mobile phone brands, are now accelerating their industrial layout. as for apple, in terms of sales, it is indeed still the king, but it is no longer the "lonely loser". judging from the performance of new products released this year, it is still unknown whether the decline can be reversed in the third quarter.

beautiful waste, mobile phone accessories, smart watches have too many labels to tear off

according to a report released by canalys, smartwatch shipments are expected to achieve double-digit growth in the second half of 2024, mainly due to the launch of new products from apple, samsung and google. these ecosystem players will introduce advanced health and fitness tracking capabilities.

today is the last day of the third quarter. we don’t know whether the entire smartwatch industry can deliver better growth data this quarter. however, the stimulating effect of apple's new products on the market is estimated to be lower than originally expected. on the one hand, apple did not launch innovative products on its 10th anniversary. on the other hand, apple's overall strategy is too stable. the market wants to see some radical plans and attempts, and is willing to pay for it even if the price increases.

in the past two years, some market voices pointed out that the rapid development of bracelets may affect the penetration of smart watches. judging from the current data, only in the chinese market, smart watch shipments are growing. in contrast, the data for bracelets is downward.

idc china research director pan xuefei told tmtpost app that as an entry-level wrist-worn product, the bracelet is lower in terms of price and usage threshold. faced with china’s huge population base, the bracelet is suitable for those who do not have high demand for healthy exercise. it is indeed a lower cost option for users. but smart watches have more obvious advantages in terms of function and appearance, and they target different groups of people.

from the perspective of tmtpost media app, the core of wearable wristband devices is health. after the epidemic, people have paid more attention to the accuracy and richness of health monitoring. the decline in the wristband market is more due to people’s turning to smartwatches for health. among these, basic watches have a larger user base.

data source: canalys

a developer of a smart watch brand mentioned above also gave the same opinion to titanium media app, “as the industry chain matures, the price of basic watches is also decreasing, especially the active efforts of brands such as huawei and xiaomi. let users have a better ecological experience.”

as for smart rings, which have been recently entered by manufacturers, pan xuefei believes that there is currently no possibility of impacting smart watches. "the current development of the smart ring market is still relatively small. from the current product technology, the body data monitored by smart rings does not show more advantages than smart watches. in addition, the abundant sensors are made larger in size. small rings that are comfortable and beautiful to wear still need to be developed for the industry chain. ”

from the above content, it seems that smart watches will usher in a new explosion, but the most critical point is whether the entire wearable wristband market will expand. judging from the current market, titanium media app take a more pessimistic attitude. for smart watches, the original "labels" are still constraining their development.

health and sports are the reasons why many friends choose smart watches. however, because the goals set at the beginning were too high and they wanted to replace mobile phones, everyone's high expectations turned into disappointment. to put it simply, smart watches are far from removing the label of mobile phone accessories. counterpoint analyst ivan lam once told titanium media app that smart watches have never been independent from an ecological perspective, but are an extension of mobile phones.

from the current shipment list, we can also see the strong connection between smart watches and mobile phone brands. apple, samsung, huawei, and xiaomi all have mobile phones as terminal products, and their corresponding sales are also at the top. for users, one of the key decision-making points when purchasing smart watches is the mobile phone products in the ecosystem.

even now smart watches can download applications, but due to screen and hardware performance limitations, users have no reason not to choose mobile phones. as for sports and health monitoring, some more detailed analysis and data display also need to be viewed on the mobile phone. from the user's perspective, smart watches are more of a recording role. for some users, smart watches have gradually become "beautiful little waste" for checking the time, alarm clock, and reading messages.

however, in pan xuefei's view, the interconnection between smart watches and mobile phones is also a very important part of current product development, providing users with a more complete experience in an ecologically constructed environment. in the future, smart watches still need to be enriched with more sports and health-related sensing data, especially in terms of health, such as blood pressure and blood sugar. providing more portable, compact and accurate solutions will further stimulate the market.

tmtpost media app believes that in order for smart watches to make a big splash, in addition to breakthroughs in health monitoring, the application of generative ai is also key, such as built-in smarter voice assistants. you know, this year, mobile phones, pcs, etc. all have built-in large models, and apple has also announced its own ai strategy, but smart watches are not on the list.